Innovative collagen nano-hydroxyapatite scaffolds offer a highly efficient non-viral gene delivery platform for stem cell-mediated bone formation

The ability of nano-hydroxyapatite (nHA) particles developed in-house to act as non-viral delivery vectors is assessed. These nHA particles are combined with collagen to yield bioactive, biodegradable collagen nano-hydroxyapatite (coll-nHA) scaffolds. Their ability to act as gene-activated matrices for BMP2 delivery is demonstrated with successful transfection of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) resulting in high calcium production.